Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

【Dan Kuroto: 4000 LP】

[Tira: 4000LP]

"Hero?" Tira frowned, recalling the unlucky brat who had faced Yugi Muto in the duel just now. The brat seemed to be using the "Elemental HERO" deck—[E·hero]. "Ha, useless. The ultimate fate of any monster is to be trampled under my master's feet."

"I'll take the first strike, time to draw cards."

"Then, activate the Field Spell Card [Vampire Empire]!"

As Tira placed a card from her hand into the duel disk area, an ancient, even "decaying," medieval-style castle rose from the ground surrounding the entire duel arena, transforming the previously enclosed interior ceiling into a gloomy sky filled with dark clouds.

"The Vampire Empire is a world ruled by vampires. Within this territory, vampires are supreme gods, invincible!"

Hayato curled his lip in disdain: "How dare you claim to be invincible? You're just spouting nonsense and asking for trouble."

"Whether it's nonsense or not, I'll let you experience it for yourself right away." Tira said arrogantly, a smirk playing on her lips, as she drew another card. "Then, I summon [Vampire Ghost] in attack position."

On Tira's field, a humanoid monster wearing a black and red hooded robe floated out like a ghost from a house next to Tira.

Judging by appearance alone, Phantom of the Vampire is one of the few humanoid dueling monsters with normal skin color and handsome looks. However, the ferocious expression on Phantom of the Vampire's face, its red glowing eyes, and the sharp teeth revealed by the upturned corners of its mouth make it impossible to appreciate its handsomeness.

【The Vampire's Ghost】【3☆/Dark】

[Undead/Effect]

[1500/0]

Upon his appearance, the Phantom of the Vampire's arm extended as if boneless, grasping a phantom from the void—which appeared to be some kind of small animal. Holding the phantom in one hand, the Phantom of the Vampire opened its mouth wide like a snake and swallowed the phantom, which was larger than its entire head, whole.

Hayato looked at the visual effects of "Phantom of the Vampire" with a hint of disgust. Although it looked pretty cool, it was definitely not human. Tira, on the other hand, looked at the visual effects of her own monster with a delighted expression, as if she had seen something wonderful.

"The effect of 'Spectre of Vampires' is that if it is successfully summoned, I can send one 'Vampire' monster other than 'Spectre of Vampires' to the Graveyard from my hand or field to activate its effect."

"I send [Vampire's Familiar] from my hand to the graveyard, and then, due to the effect of [Vampire's Ghost], I add a Level 4 or higher [Vampire] monster from my deck—[Vampire Red Calamity], Level 6☆—to my hand, and then send a Level 2 or lower [Vampire] monster—[Vampire's Familiar], Level 1☆—to the graveyard."

After showing the "Vampire's Familiar" card from her hand—the real form of the phantom of the small animal that had just been devoured—Tira sent it to the graveyard. As she spoke, she smoothly caught the card that popped out of her deck and sent one of the cards, "Vampire's Familiar," to the graveyard as well.

Hayato naturally noticed this as well, and her Duel Disk was indeed modified to include an automatic search function.

Adding the newly retrieved [Vampire - Red Calamity] to her hand, Tira glanced at Dan Kuroto's undisguised expression of disgust and revealed a rather fierce look: "Hey, what kind of expression is that? It's your honor to witness the power of a vampire, don't be ungrateful, you piece of trash!"

"Tch, whatever. You're just a nobody anyway. I'll show you a deeper kind of despair." Tira sneered as she revealed a card from her hand. "I activate the effect of 'Vampire's Kin' in my Graveyard.' I send one 'Vampire' monster from my hand or field to the Graveyard, and Special Summon 'Vampire's Kin' from my Graveyard to the field!"

"Send the [Vampire Baby] from my hand to the graveyard, and revive, [Vampire's Familiar]!"

"Even if they are just filthy, inferior animals, they can become beings that surpass humans after obtaining the power of vampires!"

Tira sent another card from her hand to the graveyard. In exchange, the Vampire Ghost, which had just devoured the phantom, opened its mouth and spat the phantom back onto the field. What appeared in front of Hayato was a white fox with snow-white fur that looked harmless.

If Hayato only saw half of the vampire's familiar's body.

It was as if half of its body was infected, or as if what we saw before was just a cover-up and this part was the real body. The other half of the white fox's body was a deep, dark black, constantly swirling like smoke, making those who saw it think of something like a "demon".

[Vampire's Familiar] [2☆/Dark]

[Undead/Effect]

[1200/0]

As soon as it appeared on the field, the [Vampire's Familiar] did not look at Hayato's side. Instead, it turned around, and its black half of body turned into a complete cloud of smoke, enveloping Tira Muku until a trace of crimson appeared in the black mist before returning to its original state.

“The vampire’s vision is everywhere. Familiars and followers are all part of the vampire’s power.” After the smoke cleared, Tira’s voice sounded a little weak to Hayato, but she herself was excited. “When I successfully Special Summon [Vampire’s Followers], I pay 500 Life Points to add one [Vampire] Spell/Trap Card from my Deck to my hand.”

"The card I'm adding to my hand is [Vampire's Domain], and then I'll activate it immediately!"

[Tila: 4000→3500LP]

Above the castle, the dark clouds that had cast a shadow gradually dissipated, but what was revealed was not bright moonlight, but a huge, blood-red full moon that looked just like a blood-red sun!

"Hmph, under the crimson moon constructed in the [Vampire Domain], the [Vampire] monsters will become even more active, and at the same time, I will also receive a return of power!" Tira's fingers brushed across her scarlet lips, as if she couldn't wait to taste something.

As Hayato unfolded his [Vampire Domain], he sensed a dark power expanding within him and looked warily at Tira: "This feeling... is it a Dark Game?!"

"Huh? The Dark Game? Heh, quite a fitting name." Tira looked slightly puzzled when she heard "The Dark Game," but quickly accepted the idea. "In this game, the loser will have their soul devoured by my master and fall into darkness."

"Activate the effect of [Vampire's Domain] once per turn, I pay 500 Life Points to allow me to Summon one [Vampire] monster in addition to my Normal Summon."

"I offer my [Vampire's Familiar] as a sacrifice, come forth, [Vampire Red Calamity]!"

[Tila: 3500→3000LP]

Suddenly, one bat after another appeared behind Tira and pounced on her body, showing no regard for the fact that Tira was a duelist. The bats frantically bit open Tira's skin and sucked her blood.

The swarming bats coalesced into a shadow, and then a terrifyingly white hand flicked away the shadow's cloak, revealing a man who looked like a medieval nobleman, having just finished sucking blood from Tira's neck.

[Vampire - Red Calamity] [6☆/Dark]

[Undead/Effect]

[2200/2200]

Unlike the previous [Vampire's Familiar] and the still-on [Vampire's Ghost], what appeared on Tira's field this time was not a ghost or a fox, but a genuine [Vampire]. Moreover, judging from its medieval noble design, [Vampire Red Calamity] is not the mindless monster from the original ancient European legends, but a "blood clan" image influenced by literary works.

Living in the darkness, feeding on blood, and wielding supernatural abilities, these are the cards used by Tira.

"Immortality, eternal youth, the power of blood!" Tira looked triumphantly at the [Vampire Red Calamity] she had summoned. "No one can surpass my perfect monster, because [Vampires] cannot die!"

"If [Vampire the Red Calamity] is successfully Summoned or Special Summoned, I pay 1000 Life Points to Special Summon 1 [Vampire] monster from my Graveyard, excluding [Vampire the Red Calamity]!"

"Rise, [Vampire's Familiar]!"

"Then, if [Vampire's Familiar] is successfully Special Summoned, I pay 500 Life Points to add one [Vampire] monster card to my hand!"

[Tira: 3000→2000→1500LP]

Looking at the three monsters on her field, and the [Vampire] monster that had just been added to her hand, Tira said smugly, "Do you dare to defy me, Dan Kuroto, who possesses [Vampire]?"

"Covering up two cards in my hand, my turn is over!"

Upon hearing Tira's declaration that her turn was over, Hayato remained unfazed: "My turn, draw a card."

"An unkillable monster? How scary~" Hayato grinned mischievously as he looked at the card he had just drawn. "Then come back to life from the graveyard and show me, vampires."

"I will bestow this powerful monster upon you!"

To Tira's bewildered gaze, her invincible [Vampire Red Calamity] and [Vampire Ghost] together transformed into a massive mass of lava.

Chapter 438 Do you remember how many loaves of bread you've eaten?

[Tira: 1500LP, 1 cards in hand]

【The Vampire's Ghost】【ATK1500】

【The Vampire's Familiar】【DEF0】

【Vampire - The Red Calamity】【ATK2200】

[Vampire's Domain] [GaiKar] X2

Location: [Vampire Empire]

Such a perfect situation, unfolding so smoothly. To be honest, this was the first time Tira himself had ever had such a smooth experience in his duels.

In one turn, Tira summoned three monsters on her field, including "Vampire Red Calamity". Although she had "Vampire Familiar" to fill the gap and paid out her Life Points to only 1500 as a price, Tira didn't feel like she lost out at all.

With such a powerful lineup, let alone this guy named Dan Kuroto, even a strongman like Yugi Muto would probably have a hard time dealing with him in a short time.

Tira's confidence stemmed not only from her trust in her monster, but also from her confidence in her Gaika.

【Bottomless Pitfall】 can flip over and cover the powerful monster that your opponent has painstakingly summoned.

【Mysterious Chinese Pot】 allows you to recover your life points using monsters on your field.

Whether Dan Kuroto tries to summon monsters to launch a strong attack or attempts to use a blood-draining tactic, he has a perfect countermeasure.

Add to that the "Vampire Empire" which boosts the attack power of "Vampire" monsters by 500 during the battle phase, and the "Vampire Domain" which restores Life Points after dealing battle damage—how can you possibly lose?

Then, Tira, full of confidence, received a gift from Dan Kuroto.

"I will bestow this powerful monster upon you by tribute of [Vampire Red Calamity] and [Vampire Ghost] on your field!"

Hayato, with a healthy smile on his face, admired the gloomy expression on Tira's face.

The card he sent was the invincible [Lava Demon], which not only devoured the two annoying [Vampires] on Tira's field, but also had the ability to deal 1000 damage to Tira during her preparation phase each turn. With Tira's current remaining 1500 Life Points, she could only withstand the effect of [Lava Demon] once. In such a situation, this card was the perfect choice.

"They actually turned my [vampires]—" Tira completely lost control of her expression. Before, when she was silent and had a stern face, she could give people the feeling of a cold and beautiful woman, but seeing her beloved [vampires] turned into ugly lava polymers, she cursed like a shrew, "You fat pig!"

"Hey, this is a gift from God, don't be ungrateful," Hayato said shamelessly. "If it weren't for the fact that your monsters are all so weak, and you haven't even managed to get a single monster with the attack power of a Blue-Eyes White Dragon after all that effort, I wouldn't have bestowed the Lava Demon upon you."

"In order to give this card to you, I can't even perform a normal summon this turn."

"However, miracles and magic don't come for free. As the price of being the [Lava Demon God], you will take 1000 points of damage every turn."

Upon hearing this, Tira looked towards the Lava Demon on her field. Unlike Dark Marik's Lava Demon, Hayato's Lava Demon didn't have the extremely wicked habit of keeping its controller in a cage. However, the massive Lava Demon still wreaked havoc and destroyed many buildings in the mist-shrouded Vampire Empire, earning Tira's disgust.

“My Life Points aren’t for that kind of trash.” As she spoke, Tira pressed the button on her Duel Disk to activate a face-down card. “I activate the effect of the ‘Spectre Vampire’ that you sent to the Graveyard! Banish ‘Spectre Vampire’ from the Graveyard, then pay me 500 Life Points to Summon a ‘Vampire’ monster!”

Tira flipped the card in her hand over, her face flushed, and she revealed an exaggerated smile: "My master, please accept my humble offering, awaken from your slumber, and end this disturbing duel!"

"Release the [Vampire's Familiar] and the disgusting [Lava Demon]! Superior Summon the [Vampire Sorceress] from my hand!"

[Tila: 1500→1000LP]

Compared to the previous commotion of summoning [Vampire Red Calamity], the appearance of [Vampire Enchantress] this time was much calmer. Although [Lava Demon] and [Vampire Familiar] had been sent back to Tira and Hayato's respective graves, the real [Vampire Enchantress] was nowhere to be seen.

Following Tira's gaze as she looked up, Hayato finally found the [Vampire Witch] who had appeared out of nowhere.

At the very top of the tallest castle in the dueling arena, a white-haired vampire sat with her legs crossed on the edge of the tower, her scarlet eyes looking down at the scenery below. When she noticed Hayato, she gave him a charming smile, beckoned him with her finger, opened her cherry-like mouth and licked her lips with her pink tongue, revealing her small fangs.

[Vampire Sorceress] [7☆/Dark]

[Undead/Effect]

[2000/2000]

If you ignore the pair of demonic bat wings on her back and just look at the human-like expressions and movements of the "vampire witch," Hayato might actually mistake her for a real person.

However, the strong smell of rust emanating from it, as well as the expanding dark power, made Hayato take it seriously for once.

When Hayato asked Tira about the "Dark Game" before, although Tira herself called it the Dark Game, Hayato did not feel any dark power encompassing him.

The reason Hayato asked Tira that question was because he noticed that as her base points decreased, although Tira appeared unchanged, something extremely mysterious and indescribable about her was constantly diminishing in Hayato's perception. In Hayato's mind, it might be her reason, her soul, or her life force—something that would be very dangerous to lose.

However, after the appearance of the [Vampire Sorceress], the magic that had previously only enveloped Tira herself began to expand and soon surrounded Hayato as well.

The duel turned into a true dark game with the appearance of the vampire witch!